João Alberto Camarotto

Análise de atividades para a inclusão de pessoas com deficiência no trabalho: uma proposta de modelo

According to the Brazilian legislation, hiring people with disabilities is mandatory. Law 8213/91 establishes admission quotas based on the number of employees of public and private companies. Making use of methods and techniques based on the Ergonomic Analysis of Activity and Occupational Therapy, this research aimed at building a model to determine the skills necessary to undertake work related activities based on a study carried out in an textile industry in the city of Sao Carlos, SP, from March to December 2007. The model is proposed and its implementation, obstacles, and openings are discussed. This study proposes a model for the inclusion of people with disability in the labor market based on the analysis of activity. It reports a case study carried out for a doctoral degree thesis that was financially supported by The National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). The model consists of the analysis of industrial activities to identify job opportunities for persons with disability (PWD) as a subsidy to the company actions that are related to employing disabled people.

Analysis of industrial tasks as a tool for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the work market.

This article describes the application of a model for analyzing industrial tasks that was developed to identify jobs that could potentially be filled by people with disabilities (DP) and to serve as a guideline for a company hiring policy. In Brazil, Law No. 8213/91 makes it obligatory to hire DP based on quotas that are established according to the number of employees in a public and private company. Using a set of methods and techniques based on ergonomic work analysis and on occupational therapy, we sought to build a model to indicate the skills required to perform industrial tasks. The model was applied at 19 workstations at a Brazilian aircraft manufacturer in 2002. The task supervisor and the operator performing the task were interviewed, the work activity was filmed, a kinesiological analysis was done, the task was observed and a checklist was applied to help recognize and systematize the skills involved in performing the job task. The last step consisted of correlating the skills required to perform the task to the potential skills of the various types of disability. It was found that 100% of the jobs could be filled by workers with low-level paraplegia, 89% by workers with general paraplegia, 0% with low-level tetraplegia, 47% with auditory impairment, 42% with hemiplegia, 68% with upper limb amputees wearing adequate prostheses, and 89% handicapped wheelchair users. The company hired 14 DP based on the results of this model. The model proved adequate for analyzing industrial tasks with a view to the inclusion of DP, and it can be applied to other sectors of industrial production.

Aspectos de complexidade do trabalho de coletores de lixo domiciliar: a gestão da variabilidade do trabalho na rua

The term complexity is frequently used in ergonomics research. However, the complexity of manual labor is rarely addressed. This article aims to demonstrate that there is a level of complexity involved in work considered predominantly physical, such as that of domestic waste collection, and that this complexity requires constant management on the part of workers. Aspects classifying a type of work as complex are also presented. Using the method of Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA), we show how waste collectors manage the variability of their activities, demonstrating that the complexity of their work is comparable to that of other activities considered complex.

A triagem de lixo reciclável: análise ergonômica da atividade

A analise do setor de triagem de uma cooperativa formada por catadores de material reciclavel e objeto deste estudo. Utilizando a metodologia da Analise Ergonomica do Trabalho (AET), demonstra-se que, alem dos riscos de acidentes e doencas, outras fontes de desconforto sao geradas pela forma de organizacao adotada. O redirecionamento dos trabalhadores do antigo aterro sanitario para a cooperativa, na busca da inclusao social com geracao de renda, intensificou sinais de sofrimento psiquico, sobrecarga fisica e mental e, especialmente, potencializou problemas financeiros que demandam modificacoes na organizacao do trabalho e parcerias institucionais.

Estratégias operatórias frente ao trabalho repetitivo

Abstract In the past decades, we have seen the consolidation of the local productive system of plated jewelry in the municipality of Limeira, Sao Paulo state. This market has created many jobs and work opportunities contributing to the city’s economic development. In jewelry manufacturing, there is predominance of manual work, characterized as repetitive work, mainly associated with the processes of assembly and welding. This study analyzed the activity of plated jewelry female welders using a theoretical-methodological approach and the precepts of located ergonomics in order to understand the operational strategies adopted against the repetitive work. The study verified the welders’ perception that the physical demands prevail in work activities, but they work on the organization, collective work, and flexibility to change the operating mode, adjusting it to their work. Because of their experience and expertise, collective work, breaks, and the possibility of accelerating or decreasing the pace of work, the welders have been able to keep performing the repetitive work.

Ergonomics and Technologies in Waste Sorting: Usage and Appropriation in a Recyclable Waste Collectors Cooperative

Waste collection and sorting are important stages for the municipal waste management. Since the 90´s in Brazil, due to the gap left by public power and structural unemployment, activities in the collection, sorting and commercialization of recycled materials had been done by collectors´ cooperatives. However, authors point that these organizations present a limited productivity, due to lack of technological infrastructure (facilities, equipment and adequate process) and also due to the poor working conditions. In this context, this paper aims to discuss technology and work, comparing the usage and appropriation of technologies in a recyclable waste collectors’ cooperative. The research was carried out qualitatively, as a case study, following the approach delineated by French-speaking ergonomics theories. Three situations were selected for data collection: spaces usage and materials flow in the facility; tools use in the activities carried out; and use of adapted mover equipment and containers. Data collection comprised interviews with the cooperative president and two sorting operators, free and systematic observation of operators’ work and pictures taking. Results show that facilities, equipment and materials’ movers were mostly donated from other organizations to the cooperative. Therefore, we see that the cooperative operates in a location where the facilities, equipment and machinery are not aligned with the type, amount and variability of the waste that the organization needs to sort to achieve its economic goals. To overcome this situation and actually fulfill its job, the cooperative develops different uses of spaces and technology, which sometimes happens at the cost of workers health, safety and well-being.

Passengers with Disabilities, Elderly and Obese in Brazilian Air Transportation: Contradictions in the Activity Systems

The objective of this study was to understand the contradictions in the activity systems of passengers with disabilities, the elderly and obese in the Brazilian air transportation, which originate participation restrictions when boarding, during the flight and in the deplaning process of air travel. A qualitative approach was adopted based on Ergonomics and the Activity Theory. The research participants were passengers with physical, visual, and auditory disabilities and elderly and obese passengers. The data collection included 14 preliminary interviews in rehabilitation organizations and assistance services for the participant groups, with a total of 25 participants; a questionnaire-based survey involving 399 respondents; and observations in commercial aviation. A total of 43 non-participant observations were carried out, and eight other participant observations took place during the air travel, which included two self-confrontation interviews. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis. The results indicated passenger participation restrictions during the flight that are related to airport infrastructure, airport signs, operational factors, equipment, aircrafts, and regulatory aspects. These restrictions are related to contradictions in the interaction of the components of the activity system, which include: the passenger, the artifacts, the rules, the community (passengers and workers), airport operators, the airlines and the object of the activity. To promote full participation during the air travel, some changes are needed; primarily the transformation of significance and representations in terms of action of those involved in air transportation and their work activity, seeking to achieve integration between design and use.

Competencies of Work in Agricultural Research Units

This paper aims to investigate and discuss the concepts comprised of the competencies deriving from tacit and explicit knowledge of operational work, a critical factor in the transfer and retention of knowledge in an organization of agricultural activities, as well as their relationships. Thus, this article contains a review of the literature to understand the relationship between worker competencies and the work done in agricultural units linked to teaching and research institutes in Brazil. The term agricultural unitsrefers to experimental farms belonging to higher education institutions, intended to serve as a workplace for teaching, research and extension activities. This research is also based on the specific characteristics of work in an organization that fit in situations of high variability. The final product of an experimental farm includes not only research results and generated knowledge, but also the development of operational activities. Finally, this paper discusses the relationship of competencies necessary for the development of this kind of agricultural unit of teaching and research.

Production Strategies and Cumulative Trauma Disorders

This poster reports on an exploratory survey carried out in an industrial company with the purpose of establishing the relations between different forms of work reorganisation, based on strategies to improve productivity and competitiveness, and the evolution of incidences of Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTDs) in the reorganised sectors of the company. The ultimate objective of the survey was to increase our understanding of the reasons for the appearance and incidence of these disorders and, thus, contribute to the study of preventive models.

Prevention of re-incidence of RSI in workplaces

The R.S.I. are considered serious and happen in the age of the worker’s greater productivity. Their rehabilitation comes often accompanied by new incidences, the treatment is difficult, does not have standards, and there are not specialized professionals in the public and private health services in Brazil. The knowledge about R.S.I. is doubted by professionals that focus on classical cases and deny the relation between work conditions and symptoms showed by the workers. We have cases where there was physical therapy intervention in R.S.I. patients, altogether with preventive ergonomic intervention in different workplaces. There are examples with other workplaces where workers move the same way and are susceptible to the same injuries. We sow that combining physical therapeutic intervention and ergonomics can bring significant results to treatment and prevent, include the simple and easy intervention to implement. We notice that all propositions to avoid R.S.I. can be applied to prevent injuries in workers that never had it.